


Starcatching

by fenhythe



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Poe Dameron Is Extremely Gay, Stargazing, so is Finn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 19:20:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6718447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fenhythe/pseuds/fenhythe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>"I heard a story, once," Poe begins when he notices Finn watching him, and Finn blinks because he hadn't realised he'd been staring, "that if you catch a shooting star it'd grant you three wishes. What d'you think you'd wish for, Finn?"</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Finn doesn't remember the last time he stargazed like this.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Starcatching

**Author's Note:**

> some short, sappy Stormpilot (* ^ o^*) scribbled mostly when i should have been asleep; finished & tidied up later.  
> it's ~1700 or so words of me basically indulging myself. sorry for such an unimaginative title lmao

Finn doesn't remember the last time he stargazed like this.

Well, that's actually not quite true. There is a memory but it's faint, a chalk picture washed away by the rain; blurry and difficult to hold on to, it slips through his hands like a flood of running paint. It's warped and indistinct but he can see the figures of people he once called _family_ , flickers of a dark landscape, of some faraway planet he knew as _home_ , and the glittering expanse above their house that his mother called _heaven_. Vague images: a hand holding his own, guiding him through meadows of tall, tall grasses that whisper and tower over his head, to the top of a hill where he is lifted into strong, safe arms so he can see the cosmos and the world spread out before him, vast and full of endless opportunity. The feeling of being so small, so insignificant, but his heart brimming with joy and the desire to explore to the very furthest reaches of that sky.

It is a memory of a time before the First Order took him away from everything he knew, took away everything he was, and tried to shape him into something different - something that wouldn't look at the stars with awe and wonder what else might be out there.

He wonders idly how many other stormtroopers broke the mould— if there's someone else like him out in the universe, lying under a blanket of stars and feeling like Finn does right now, like he's seen all of this before but is seeing it again for the first time, too.

He's seated with his legs crossed, back leaning against one of the concrete platforms atop which a pair of satellites are mounted. Beside him, Poe is lying stretched out with one arm tucked behind his head and the other raised skywards, hand outstretched, pinning stars between his forefinger and thumb. They've been up here for almost an hour now, nestled on the sloping curve of a green mound at the Resistance base and framed by satellite dishes that languidly pan across the sky in search of far-off signals, the whir of their motors a gentle accompaniment to the sigh of a breeze floating through the grass. It's peaceful here at the moment, like they aren't caught in the middle of a war; as though they aren't currently sat right on top of a military base and still very much in the thick of things. Finn isn't familiar enough with the place yet to be completely sure, but he thinks the command room is located somewhere in the cave-like structure beneath their feet.

And Finn still isn't familiar with all the rules, so he doesn't know if they're breaking a curfew or not. The distinct lack of people wandering outside the base and Poe's sly grin as he'd led them up here suggests that yes, they are, but he'd undoubtedly take the blame for it if they end up getting caught. Poe's like that, Finn has discovered; he doesn't mind putting himself in the firing line. His selflessness is why they're both here at all - he knew none of the Resistance would be coming to save him from the First Order if he was captured.

"I heard a story, once," Poe begins when he notices Finn watching him, and Finn blinks because he hadn't realised he'd been staring, "that if you catch a shooting star it'd grant you three wishes. What d'you think you'd wish for, Finn?"

His tone indicates he's quite serious, so this is a question that requires some consideration. Finn neglects to point out that catching a star is technically impossible - that feels more like something FN-2187 would say, with his closed view of the world, no lights in his sky. And Finn opened his eyes again on the day he could not kill those civilians, and he is not FN-2187 any more.

"…To never — _ever_ — have to go back to Jakku. For anything," he answers after a contemplative couple of seconds and Poe snorts with laughter.

"That bad, huh?"

"Pretty bad." Finn doesn't need to remind Poe of every reason for his hatred of Jakku. He can see it on Poe's face, when his brow furrows briefly and a shadow crosses his features as he remembers Finn thought he had died there. "I told you about the happabore thing, right? The _smell_ — _awful_."

"Yeah, yeah you did." Poe grimaces sympathetically but he still finds it hilarious (aside from the whole 'almost dying' part). Finn has yet to get the taste of that warm, animal-tainted water out of his mouth - even if it did save his life, it was disgusting. Then Poe prompts him with, "What else?" and Finn blinks at him in momentary confusion.

"What?"

Still reaching toward the sky with one hand, Poe runs the other through his dark hair and pushes it back out of his eyes, shaking his head. "That's only one wish, buddy. What else'd you ask for?"

There are plenty of things Finn wants out of life, really; plenty of things to wish for. To be able to travel the universe is one of them, flying from the Outer Rim to the very core worlds, to just experience life and visit places he's never seen before. He'd like to try different foods, homemade and traditional meals, as far away as possible from the tasteless freeze-dried and vacuum-packed rations the First Order had provided. None of these things feel important enough — or unrealistic — that he could not achieve them within his lifetime, however. He wants to see Rey again, too, but that would also be a waste of a good wish - there is no doubt in Finn's mind that they'll see each other again soon.

He picks absently at the grass, fingertips brushing over tiny, delicate flowers peeking up through the green. "I don't suppose 'galactic peace' is too cliché?" he suggests eventually. Even here, in the quiet just-past-midnight hours of D'Qar where the air is mild but still chilly enough he has to wear Poe's — his — jacket, the threat of the First Order still looms over Finn, a shadow in the back of his thoughts. If the Order could just vanish then, well, everything would be a little bit brighter. A bit easier.

Poe laughs. "Nah, that's a good one! A little idealistic to hope for it as things are, really— not that there's anything wrong with being an idealist, of course. I am one myself, after all," he states proudly. "But it'd be a good use of… interstellar magic, or whatever powers wishes. Make things a lot easier, for sure."

Grinning, Finn looks back up at the stars. His mind drifts on the light night wind and, as it often does these days, back to that faded memory. As he takes in the heavens and those distant whispers of his mother's love, her hands, fill his heart with a sort of sad, aching longing, he becomes very aware of how many things he can see in the sky right now. This is only one small part of the universe, a dab of paint on the canvas. He could search until he grew old and weak and he might never find what he's looking for; a face to match to the silhouette of his mother, a sense of belonging. That place he was taken from. A _home_.

Perhaps not the place he'd go back to, not forever, but… Finn is a man adrift, as he is, and he'd like to find an anchor. He wants to know where he came from just as much as where he might end up.

"My last wish—" Finn begins, hesitates, then turns to look at Poe again. He's not sure why - he doesn't have to, there's no requirement to do so, no unspoken order to look at someone while speaking to them. Poe's rolled onto his side so he can face him and all his attention is focused upon Finn, and this is not something he has to do either. "My last wish is to find my family again. And somewhere to call home."

Poe has this thing about him; it draws you in like the gravitational pull of a planet whenever he smiles, and even when he isn't, but when he smiles it's strong enough Finn feels it like a hook in the chest, almost painful, an ache that's different from the wistful longing for his childhood home. And he's smiling now, this sort of tender, soft expression that is sympathetic and understanding, not pitying. It makes Finn's heart want to burst.

"What about you?" Finn asks him. "What would you wish for?"

"Me? Ah, I'd give my wishes to you!" Poe beams up at him and slaps his knee affectionately. "I already have everything I need in the universe."

There are stars reflected in Poe's eyes and Finn realises, then, that catching them would be possible if he were to just stretch out his hand and find Poe's. It makes Finn's throat feel dry and raw. Poe is a universe, limitless and exciting, and Finn wants to reach his stars, to touch them and feel their heat scorch across his skin without burning, comet trails that'd mark the path of each fierce, loving touch long after Poe's hands have left him. There are entire galaxies glinting in the depths of those dark eyes and right now, Finn is the centre. Finn is his sun. It's a little scary to see himself as another does, so central and— important. Ever since he awoke from the coma Poe has treated him as if Finn is the most important thing in the world, but it's a bit different seeing it up close like this, so _clear_.

As it dawns on him just what Poe means by his words, he feels like he might be glowing. So he reaches tentatively for Poe's hand and when Poe grins, casually laces their fingers together and squeezes, anchoring him, Finn knows for certain that he is, cheeks hot enough to chase away the night chill.

He'll search the cosmos until he finds that distant planet, which now seems just a little closer. Home does, too. It's caught between his forefinger and thumb, somewhere within the nebulous reaches of this man, Poe Dameron.

**Author's Note:**

> apologies for possibly terrible characterisation; i have no idea what i'm doing and Poe is definitely too smooth for me to capture properly!! ; o; sorry if anything contradicts canon/etc too; i haven't read the accompanying novels or anything bc i suck, so my knowledge is pretty much based entirely off the movie. i'm so nervous posting as usual hhAh
> 
> i'm over at [tumblr](http://stvrkilling.tumblr.com) if you feel like dropping by!  
> thanks for reading <3


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